Officer found guilty of perverting the course of justice

An officer will face a misconduct hearing after being convicted following an investigation by the Met's Anti-Corruption and Abuse Command.

PC Lauren Evans, attached to the South Area Basic Command Unit, appeared at Southwark Crown Court on Monday, 1 December where she pleaded not guilty to perverting the course of justice.

She was found guilty at Southwark Crown Court on Monday, 8 December and will be sentenced at the same court on Monday, 9 February 2026.

PC Evans was charged following an investigation into a false sexual assault allegation that was made on Wednesday, 22 March 2023.

She reported that she had been driving to work at around 13:00hrs on Wednesday, 22 March 2023 when she was stopped by someone purporting to be a plain clothed officer who sexually assaulted her.

An urgent investigation was launched to identify the officer involved after PC Evans provided a surname and description of an unmarked police car. After checks were done, highly coincidently, an officer with the same surname and who was driving an unmarked police car in the general area at the time of the alleged assault was identified.

They were arrested the following day on Thursday, 23 March. This officer was subsequently exonerated and released without charge when it came to light that PC Evans had made a false report. The investigation found that conclusively the officer was not involved and also found no evidence that any stop had taken place.

PC Evans was suspended from duty after being arrested on Thursday, 20 April 2023.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cutler from the Met's Anti-Abuse and Corruption Command, said: "Officers should act with integrity at all times and lying about such a serious allegation is completely unacceptable. It undermines the work that takes place across the Met every day to support victims of sexual offences and it will not be tolerated.

"This has been a complex investigation which started following an allegation against another officer. This allegation was investigated thoroughly and we found no evidence that the incident had taken place."

PC Evans will face a misconduct hearing at the earliest opportunity.